Highko Strom Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Hi Gibson-maniacs, this is my first post here, with a question: I own a 1991 Les Paul Custom 40th anniversary (decal on back of headstock). It has P100 Pickups, Grover tuners and is a really nice guitar, heavy, with a lot of sustain and mojo. I am the first owner and got that guitar directly from Gibson in 1992. I was told, that this baby is very special. I was looking through the net and found nothing about this guitar. There are only 40th anniversary standards with cream P100`s. But with the custom appointments, no chance to get information. Is there someone out there, who is the right expert and can tell me more about my axe? Any help is welcome. Thank you Greetz Highko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Welcome Highko! One thing makes me curious: how can it be a 40th anniversary Custom? In 1991? The Custom first appeared in 1954. Maybe it`s a 1994? What is the 5th digit of the serial number? Maybe it "4" that was stamped too lightly and looks like "1'? Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highko Strom Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 Welcome Highko! One thing makes me curious: how can it be a 40th anniversary Custom? In 1991? The Custom first appeared in 1954. Maybe it`s a 1994? What is the 5th digit of the serial number? Maybe it "4" that was stamped too lightly and looks like "1'? Cheers... Bence Hi Bence, it is a 1991! I bought it in 1992 and it was the 1952 anniversary, not 1954. Greetz H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Hello! That's strange. Not so period-correct to be an anniversary model. Anyways, it's very nice. Congratulations! Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I own a 1991 Les Paul Custom 40th anniversary (decal on back of headstock). I am the first owner and got that guitar directly from Gibson in 1992. I was told, that this baby is very special. Interesting. I've only seen the ebony Standard 40th Anniv. before. What does the decal look like? Is it the 'Anniversary Limited Edition' one? Does the guitar have a '40th Anniversary' engraving anywhere - such as the 12th fret or the diagonal of the headstock split-block? More snaps would be nice! I'm guessing there was no extra paperwork to mark it down as something unusual but if there is 'Anniversary'-style features that wouldn't be necessary to confirm it as 'special'. The regular (Custom Shop - made) '54 Custom reissue was launched in 1991 but, clearly, this would have had the 'Custom Shop' decal instead of an Anniversary one. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highko Strom Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Interesting. I've only seen the ebony Standard 40th Anniv. before. What does the decal look like? Is it the 'Anniversary Limited Edition' one? Does the guitar have a '40th Anniversary' engraving anywhere - such as the 12th fret or the diagonal of the headstock split-block? More snaps would be nice! I'm guessing there was no extra paperwork to mark it down as something unusual but if there is 'Anniversary'-style features that wouldn't be necessary to confirm it as 'special'. The regular (Custom Shop - made) '54 Custom reissue was launched in 1991 but, clearly, this would have had the 'Custom Shop' decal instead of an Anniversary one. P. On the decal it says Anniversary Limited Edition, and there is not the engraving like on the standards. I try to post more pictures of it... I have no idea if it`s from the custom shop, or not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Well, it's clearly an Anniversary model...lol! These would all have been made in the Custom Shop along with the other Limited Edition models. Being a LP Custom, though, it's still a bit of an enigma. Perhaps it was an early 'try-out' for a future (1993/4) 40th Anniv. Custom? As Bence says the 'Black Beauty' first appeared very late '53. I'll have to dig a bit deeper when I've more time. It might be worthwhile sending the details you have to Gibson Customer Service (which can be found in the forum). They might have detailed records; but if it was a one-off / pre-production / prototype then perhaps not. Interesting guitar! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.